Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Cubs Interested In Another Japanese Player?

According to the East Windup Chronicle the Cubs are interested in acquiring Japanese superstar and, Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher Yu Darvish. This would not be for this season, but for the 2009 season. The Cubs are not in the lead to sign him, the Yankees are. Along with the Cubs, the Dodgers and the Mets have him on their radar as well. According to the report, Daisuke Matsuzaka's $8.6MM salary would be the floor with Darvish. And they are guessing his posting fee would easily exceed Dice-K's $51.1MM.Two huge questions remain. Are the Fighters actually considering posting Darvish after the '08 season? The loss of such a popular player would be a huge hit for Japanese baseball. Also, does Darvish even want to play in the U.S.? Like I said two huge questions.

Darvish is 21 years old with loads of potential. He is listed at 6'5" and 185 pounds. In '07 with the Fighters, Darvish went 15-5, with 210 strikeouts 1.82 ERA. His total numbers for his 3 year career are 32-15 377 K's and a 2.53 ERA. Those numbers would be an instant upgrade to the Cubs pitching staff.

This would be an awesome move, and I would applaud the Cubs for making this move.